The Danish firm announced Wednesday it had acquired Corteva’s global alfalfa germplasm and breeding program for an undisclosed sum, including its current commercial alfalfa varieties and their trademarks such as Hi-Gest, Hi-Ton, Hi-Salt and msSuntra.

The deal, which took effect Sept. 1, also includes the Alforex Seeds brand name — which was set up in 2013 as the name of Dow AgroSciences’ alfalfa business, before that company’s 2017 merger with DuPont’s ag businesses into what’s now Corteva. DuPont had sold off its own previous alfalfa seed business in 2014.

DLF said Wednesday it will integrate the Corteva business into its own global research and development program and will also hire “select Corteva personnel supporting the alfalfa program” including research and development staff in the U.S. Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

On top of the products now sold via Alforex, DLF said it “intends to offer varieties comparable to (Corteva’s) Pioneer brand and Dairyland Seed brand alfalfa products when the business is fully transitioned after the 2024 season.”

Past that, DLF said its full commercial plans for the business “will be communicated to appropriate stakeholders in the near future.”

DLF said the deal also gives it “a robust platform of elite alfalfa genetics, an industry-leading brand portfolio and expanded market access.”

The Corteva portfolio, DLF said, offers a “diverse and proven alfalfa germplasm base and native trait pipeline with excellent yield potential, disease and pest resistance, winterhardiness and superior forage quality for both dormant and non-dormant markets.”

“We have consistently aimed to establish a strong presence in alfalfa across all our global markets, including North America,” DLF group CEO Soren Halbye said in a release. “Acquiring a renowned alfalfa research program presents a rare opportunity for DLF to significantly enhance our global position in alfalfa breeding and sales.”

Forage seed has been a relatively tiny chunk of Corteva’s global seed business, which is primarily in corn and soybeans and mainly in the North American market under the Pioneer and Brevant brands.

In the first half of 2023, Corteva’s “other” seed category — that is, forage and any other seed products besides either corn or oilseeds such as canola and soy — booked net sales of $288 million, out of $6.959 billion for the seed segment overall, down from $316 million out of $6.471 billion in first-half 2022.

DLF, whose Canadian arm is based at Lindsay, Ont., sells in the Canadian market today under the DLF and Mapleseed brand names.

It operated in the North American market under the name DLF Pickseed until last year, when it fully phased out a brand it had owned since buying Canadian firm Pickseed in 2013. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The company said Monday it began construction work earlier this month at Carmichael, about 65 km southwest of Swift Current, about three km south of the Trans-Canada Highway on the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline.

Expected to be ready by fall next year, the Carmichael elevator will have 46,000 tonnes of storage capacity with a loop track for handling 175 high cube-style rail cars, “high speed” receiving and loadout, and a “high capacity” grain cleaning system.

Once the new elevator is built, Richardson said, it will start construction on “crop inputs assets” at the site including a high-speed fertilizer blender and a 10,000-square foot warehouse, both to be up and running by fall 2023.

“Richardson has maintained a significant presence and loyal customer base in the southwestern part of the province and will continue to seek opportunities for improving operational efficiencies,” Tom Hamilton, Richardson’s senior vice-president for agribusiness operations, said in a release.

In the same area, Richardson already has a 29,920-tonne capacity elevator at Swift Current; a 19,000-tonne capacity elevator it bought from Viterra in 2013 at Maple Creek, about 70 km west of Carmichael; and a 31,900-tonne capacity elevator it bought from Agricore United in 2007 at Reed Lake, about 50 km east of Swift Current.

“With the addition of the new facility at Carmichael, we look to bridge our historical presence in the area with the realities of meeting our grower customers’ evolving business needs,” Hamilton said. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Delaware-based agribusiness, under the name Corteva, Inc., is scheduled to begin “when-issued” trading on the NYSE on May 24, and “regular way” trading on June 3, under the ticker symbol “CTVA.”

DowDuPont — the holding company formed in 2017 by the merger of Dow and DuPont — announced Wednesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has declared Corteva’s registration statement effective, and that the DowDuPont board of directors has approved Corteva’s spinoff.

“This milestone marks the completion of all the regulatory requirements for us to separate into a leading pure-play independent agriculture company on June 1,” Corteva CEO James Collins said in a release.

“Corteva Agriscience is well positioned to drive long-term value for shareholders as we leverage our balanced portfolio and robust innovation pipeline to deliver the complete solution farmers need to maximize yield and profitability,”

The spinoff calls for each current shareholder in DowDuPont to receive one share of Corteva common stock for every three shares of DowDuPont common stock they hold.

DowDuPont on June 1 will also rename itself DuPont de Nemours, Inc., doing business under the name DuPont.

The new DuPont will operate the two companies’ combined specialty chemical product operations. Dow and DuPont’s combined materials science divisions, which were spun off in March, now operate under the Dow name.

Corteva’s operations in Canada include seeds, sold under the Pioneer and Brevant brand names, with herbicide-tolerant trait systems including Enlist, Optimum GLY, SmartStax and, since February, Clearfield.

Corteva’s roster of crop protection chemicals in the Canadian market includes, among others, herbicides such as Enlist Duo, Lontrel, Frontline, Grazon and Tordon; insecticides such as Lorsban and Delegate; seed treatments such as Lumiderm, Lumisena and Lumivia; and fungicides such as Acapela and Nova.

Worldwide, the Corteva agriculture segments have booked combined annual net sales of over US$14 billion in recent years. Their combined EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for 2018 came in at US$2.05 billion. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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EU governments were asked to vote on the future of two grades of GM maize, Pioneer’s 1507 and Syngenta’s Bt11, which kill insects by producing their own pesticide and are also resistant to a particular herbicide.

However, the votes against were not decisive in blocking their introduction because the opposition did not represent a “qualified majority” — also including countries that make up at least 65 per cent of the EU population.

The governments were also asked to determine whether to extend authorization for Monsanto’s MON810, an insect-resistant maize that is grown mainly in Spain, but banned in a number of other counties.

More countries voted against than in favour, but again the vote was not considered decisive.

The European Commission said the outcome counted as a “no opinion,” meaning it would have to step in to take the decisions for GMs that had received favourable opinions from the European Food Safety Authority.

It added that 17 EU countries had used an opt-out clause, with a further two for part of their territories.

“In practice this means that the three GMOs, if and once authorized at EU level, will not in any case be cultivated on the territories benefiting from the opt out,” Commission spokesman Enrico Brivio said.

Mute Schimpf, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said the decision now rested with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

“He can put himself on the side of the majority of countries, citizens and farmers who do not want genetically modified crops, or he can back the mega-corporations behind the industrialization of our countryside,” she said.

At the end of last year, 55 GM crops were approved for import as feed and food into Europe. While approved for human consumption, in practice the crops are used as animal feed.

Repeated EU scientific assessments have concluded that GMO crops are as safe for humans and the environment as their conventional counterparts, but consumer opposition to the technology in Europe remains strong.

MON810 is the only GM crop grown in Europe. A potato developed by BASF was granted approval in 2010, but the German company withdrew it in 2012.

— Reporting for Reuters by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels.

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The privately-held Winnipeg grain firm announced Thursday it will build a new Dauphin high-throughput elevator with 10,000 tonnes of storage capacity, linking into the site’s current steel bin storage space, bringing total capacity to 25,000 tonnes.

The project also involves boosting receiving and shipping speed to and from the steel bins to match the new elevator’s capacity. The completed site will also have a high-capacity grain dryer, cleaner and 104-car rail spot, the company said.

Work is expected to start at the Dauphin site in April, for completion in August 2016, the company said.

As a “continued delivery option” for farmers trucking grain to Richardson during that 16-month stretch, the company said it will also put up a temporary receiving and shipping system.

The current wooden crib elevator, a former Manitoba Pool Elevators facility with about 5,750 tonnes of storage capacity, will be demolished, the company said.

The Dauphin elevator, on the Canadian National Railway (CN) line, was one of 15 Prairie elevators Richardson bought in 2007 from Agricore United, as AU prepared for its sale to Saskatchewan Wheat Pool to form Viterra.

Richardson had planned, when it bought the elevator, to “upgrade and enhance” the facility, the company said Thursday.

“The Dauphin area is an important market for us and we have a solid, loyal customer base there,” Darwin Sobkow, Richardson’s executive vice-president for agribusiness operations and processing, said in the company’s release.

“This shows our long-term commitment to the area and ensures our ability to continue to serve our customers.” — AGCanada.com Network

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